Monopoly at McDonald’s is back in the UK for the ‘ultimate collab’ – dropping a range of exciting prizes, exclusive merchandise, and an interactive digital game board, while introducing its first limited time offer: the Loaded Caramel McFlurry. 

tms led the campaign which taps into Gen Z hype culture with a truly iconic mash up, blending everything that makes the McDonald’s and Monopoly brands special and stars beloved characters like Mr. Monopoly, Grimace, Hamburglar, and Birdie.  

Making the original characters the heroes creates nostalgia for longtime fans, while presenting the game in a whole new way for the next generation of fans. To further engage gen Z audiences, tms leveraged the power of play, giving fans a guaranteed 1 in 4 chance to win instantly for the first time ever.  

This year, tms introduced new ways to play with an enhanced gamified experience available within the McDonald’s app, built as an interactive, 3D digital gameboard – complete with a new “Go” button that allows players to move around the board as their game progresses. tms programmed the game with over 30 possible outcomes, and players can view previews of prize offerings and redeem their winnings within the experience. 

Designed to create next-level hype, the prize offerings include multiple McDonald’s Monopoly collabs, leaning into the drop-culture Gen-Z knows and loves. tms designed and sourced all merchandise for the promotion, including a limited-edition physical gameboard designed, tailored to iconic McDonald’s items, with properties such as ‘Big Mac Manor’ and “Mayo Chicken Mile”, as well as its own McDonaldland character game tokens. Hoodies, key rings, ping badges, t-shirts, and a light-up neon McDonald’s light are also available as prize giveaways or for purchase. 

Other prizes include a trip from Jet2 Holidays and Merlin Entertainment passes – as well as a total of more than £2 million in cash, all negotiated, handled, and fulfilled by tms.  

A limited-time menu item, the Loaded Caramel McFlurry, is available as part of the campaign for the first time – tapping directly into nostalgic pleasures, from the millionaire shortbread toppings to the gold “Monopoly Money” packaging. In another first, breakfast is available in the collaboration, with custom hot cups created by tms.  

John Viccars, Head of Strategy at tms, said: “This year, the shift from celebrating McDonald’s Monopoly as the ‘OG promotion’ to the ‘ultimate collab’, has led to our most exciting campaign experience of all. Packed with fresh icon-to-icon creative, hype driving mash-up prizes, first ever Monopoly menu item, playful digital experiences, and cash activations, we’ve truly maximised the generosity and joy for McDonald’s customers.”   

The Monopoly game at McDonald’s runs nationwide in the UK from 10 September to 21 October 2025. Read more about the campaign through the industry coverage it received on Ads of the World and Media Shotz. 

Monopoly at Macca’s returns to Australia with a bold new twist on September 3: for the first time, the famous game will feature zero tickets printed onto food packaging. Fans can get in on the action directly via the MyMacca’s app, no longer needing to keep track of printed Monopoly tickets. With an upgraded 1 in 3 chances to win, and a guaranteed daily bonus win available for eligible players each day, winning is easier than ever before.  

This ticketless digital experience is enabled through the transformational technology of iWin, the proprietary game engine designed and managed by tms.  

This year’s campaign marks a global first for McDonald’s, with all gameplay, prize reveals, and bonus wins delivered digitally. The odds of winning are better than ever, with a 1 in 3 chance of winning and a guaranteed daily bonus prize – all customers have to do is play in the MyMacca’s app.  

To play, customers simply purchase an eligible item in-store or via the MyMacca’s app for the tickets to appear instantly in the player’s ‘stash’. When placing an order in-store, customers can mention their MyMacca’s code to a crew member or enter it at a kiosk or drive-thru. Players can then open the app to reveal the Monopoly game and their digital tickets.  

The new game experience features streamlined gameplay filled with surprises, including daily bonus prizes that keep customers coming back, and a new “achievements” feature that makes the experience more rewarding for fans. Notable prizes include a $52k rent or mortgage top-up, a $10,000 Amazon.com.au gift card, a 2025 Isuzu MU-X car, a Tahiti Airjet Lay-Z-Spa, and a year’s worth of Uber rides and Uber Eats valued at $25,000. tms also brought real-time data into the app to enable personalized gameplay comms in the moment.  

Stu Nyman, Digital Client Engagement Lead, McDonald’s International at tms, said: “The ticketless Monopoly experience is a game-changer for McDonald’s customers. With iWin powering the gameplay and the MyMacca’s app making it seamless, we’re delivering more chances to win and more fun than ever before. It’s a bold step forward in digital engagement, and we’re thrilled to make it official in Australia.”   

Learn more about our involvement by reading the campaign’s industry coverage on Campaign Brief and MediaWeek.

Develop a suitably playful digital experience for McDonald’s new, gaming-inspired campaign? It was ‘mission accomplished’ for tms. 

Whether it’s a Big Mac during a long journey or a lunchtime McCafe run, McDonalds is always a welcome detour in fans’ days. McDonald’s Side Missions turns these everyday pitstops into playable moments, tapping into the language of gaming – in which a ‘side mission’ is an optional quest separate to the main storyline. Customers who complete their McDonald’s Side Mission unlock delicious daily offers and stand to win legendary prizes.  

Going live on 14 July 2025, this campaign was a cross-agency collaboration led by Leo Burnett, with tms responsible for the entire digital experience and in-app assets. This spanned mechanic concepting, UX, UI, front and back-end build, sales promotion support, and prize pool partnerships. 

Entering the app, users see an interactive screen that displays the daily Side Mission. A click through unlocks meal offers on weekdays, or “loot” in the form of instant prizes on weekends. These range from free food items (such as small fries or mini McFlurry), to cinema tickets and digital vouchers from partner brands (including Argos and Virgin Experience) to £10,000 cash. 

Chris Noone Design Director, tms said: “Tapping into gaming visual language that crosses generations, we used pixel craft & precision to elevate the digital experience giving customers something new everyday of the week. Playful & unexpected, the team loved bringing this one to life – one pixel at a time.”

Read more about Side Missions on Campaign UK. 

The wait is over – back by popular demand, the Snack Wrap returned to McDonald’s restaurants in the US on July 10. To drive anticipation for the launch, tms created a bold retail experience and sleek packaging for the beloved menu item. 

From countless social media posts to online petitions, fans were determined to bring back the Snack Wrap – and McDonald’s listened. 

The Snack Wrap® has been off menus for nearly a decade – this time around, customers have two flavors to choose from: ranch or spicy. The permanent menu item will be available at all restaurants across the US, officially added to its menu on July 15. 

To mark the return of the Snack Wrap, tms worked with our supplier partner, Way To Be, to source a curated collection of t-shirts and hoodies which will be available on July 10 on Golden Arches Unlimited. tms photographed all of the apparel for Golden Arches Unlimited and also gave fans a look behind the scenes on snackwrapfiles.com to show customers how the merchandise came to life.  

tms took a bold and celebratory approach to the retail experience highlighting the fan favorite, with the Snack Wrap prominently displayed as the hero of each campaign asset. From window posters to digital menu boards and ordering kiosk takeovers, customers will not be able to miss the news that their favorite product has returned. With the intention of driving trade up to the Snack Wrap® Meal at retail, we designed assets at point of order depicting the meal which consists of two wraps paired with fries and lemonade. 

The packaging itself was created by tms’ embedded packaging agency, Boxer Brand Design – positioning the Snack Wrap®logo prominently on a white background in turquoise or red, depending on the type of wrap.  

Learn about previous launches we have supported for McDonald’s by utilizing our expertise in retail experiences and packaging, including for the recent roll out of the McCrispy™ Strips nationwide in the US. 

tms is leading the global launch of McDonald’s playful new Happy Meal – a brand new program called Lil McDonald’s, featuring a collection of miniature McDonald’s food items and restaurant fittings.  

Launching in the US on July 1, the program is rolling out to McDonald’s markets around the world, ending in Japan in spring 2026.  

Born from the insight that Generation Alpha kids love to role play interactions with their favorite brands – including McDonald’s – tms developed a platform which literally puts McDonald’s in their hands and creates childhood Happy Meal memories.  

Lil McDonald’s also taps into the Gen Z cultural trend of loving miniatures, making it a brand experience with appeal across multiple age groups.  

To bring this experience alive, tms have created a muti-channel brand experience, spanning on-trend physical toys, a hugely exciting digital experience and immersive retail theatre.   

Along with McDonald’s restaurant fittings like the fryer and soda fountain, the 25-piece Lil McDonald’s toy collection includes a golden Happy Meal box, iconic McDonald’s menu items and a miniature branded delivery van – 21 toys will be available in US markets. 

The Happy Meal box itself resembles a McDonald’s restaurant, with spaces for each toy, supported by a specially designed tuck box. The entire collection was designed by tms’ in-house agency Boxer Brand Design.  

As well as giving kids some toys to make their McDonald’s-inspired playtime even more fun, tms has created an interactive smartphone game where players can test their kitchen skills in a virtual McDonald’s. It can be accessed by scanning the code on the Happy Meal box. 

tms has also designed a range of in-store marketing materials, including merchandise units, retail posters, drive-thru units, menu boards and ordering kiosks, to create a sense of theater around the experience.  

Claire Soper, Vice President, Client Engagement, McDonald’s Global at tms, said, “Having worked with McDonald’s for 25 years, Gen Alpha is the third generation of kids growing up with tms-designed Happy Meals. We’re thrilled to keep the magic going with Lil McDonald’s and cannot wait to see how fans of all ages react.”  

tms was lead agency across the campaign, responsible for the strategy, creating the retail and digital experiences, and developing and producing the toys. Wieden & Kennedy managed campaign communications for television, online video, social and paid media. 

Check out the campaign on Ad Age to learn more.

This summer, McDonald’s Spain returned on June 10 with double the labels for double the fun for its annual Monopoly campaign led by tms. 

McDonald’s “Monopoly Doble” builds on the huge success of the 2024 campaign and will run for seven weeks this summer giving McDonald’s customers more prizes and more chances to win. 

McDonald’s promotional packaging includes two game pieces to double players’ chances of winning. Customers can win prizes instantly by completing a property set, or they can scan or manually enter their property codes in the McDonald’s app for a second chance to win.  The strategy, concept, game operations, packaging design, digital gameplay development, and prize handling & fulfilment are all managed by tms. 

There are over 10 million prizes up for grabs thanks to the array of prize partners negotiated by tms, from big-ticket items like a car, €5,000 cash and a trip to Bali, to McDonald’s food prizes, train travel vouchers and many more. 

Learn how tms leads the global development of McDonald’s Monopoly campaigns, including our work with McDonald’s Australia and New Zealand, where we innovated the first ticketless Monopoly experience using our proprietary game engine, iWin. 

Prepare to experience bold new flavors with McDonald’s first new permanent menu item in four years: the McCrispy Strips. Available nationwide in the US on May 5 at participating restaurants, McDonald’s is raising the chicken game with the new strips that come with the perfect pairing – the Creamy Chili Dip, a savory, sweet, and tangy sauce. 

At retail, tms supported the launch of the McCrispy Strips in a way that brought excitement and educated customers on the brand-new menu item. To truly own the customer experience, we shot macro photography of the McCrispy Strips to show off their crave-ability at every touchpoint within the customer journey, paired with the new sauce and a refreshing lemonade. We also drove trial and purchase at all zones, as well as trade-up to a meal at point of purchase, encouraging customers to return time and time again. 

Our embedded packaging agency, Boxer Brand Design, created the packaging for the 3 and 4-piece boxes, along with the Creamy Chili Dip sauce lid – opting for a tangy colorway that speaks to the flavor of the dip.

Learn how we supported the arrival of new menu items to McDonald’s in the past, including for its nationwide partnership with Krispy Kreme, to see how we can help your business through our expertise in retail experiences, packaging, and brand partnerships. 

Just in time for the release of the new movie, McDonald’s has partnered with Warner Bros. and A Minecraft Movie for its latest global campaign, supported by tms. Announced on March 20, A Minecraft Movie Happy Meal® and A Minecraft Movie Meal are “yours to build”. 

For years, two of the most iconic fandoms have been shaping culture in their own ways, with Minecraft’s global player base of 160 million worldwide and McDonald’s serving Feel-Good Moments to 68 million global customers daily. From crafting pixel-perfect replicas of McDonald’s iconic Golden Arches to famous menu items, fans have shown their love for McDonald’s in Minecraft for over a decade. Now, these two worlds are coming together for the first time. 

tms created moments of joy for customers of all ages by bringing their McDonald’s Minecraft dreams to life through a captivating visual identity, exclusive toy offerings, unique packaging, and an enticing digital gameplay experience. 

From adults to the youngest fans, everyone is invited to join in on the fun – A Minecraft Movie Meal stars six collectibles inspired by McDonald’s most beloved characters, while A Minecraft Movie Happy Meal features six recognizable Blockhead or Block World character toys from the movie and game. All 12 collectible toys were designed and sourced by tms – alternatively, customers may opt for a licensed Minecraft book created especially for this campaign. 

To integrate the brand identities of A Minecraft Movie and McDonald’s, tms designed a blockified visual identity for the retail experience and packaging. With the help of our embedded branding and packaging design agency, Boxer Brand Design, we brought to life iconic characters from the movie by sourcing three variations of Sheep, Bee, and Creeper Happy Meal boxes, with special cutouts on the boxes as an extra element of fun. We also designed the A Minecraft Movie Meal box to resemble a gold blockified treasure chest. In addition, Minecraft fans can ignite their taste buds with the new Nether Flame Sauce, wrapped in collectible flaming red packaging. 

Carrying the blockified visual identity into the digital experience, tms created a digital treasure chest quest experience which follows the storyline of A Minecraft Movie, accessed by scanning QR codes on retail displays and packaging. Focusing on the fun of resource collection and crafting, players first select the quest they would like to embark on and proceed to the gameplay to collect as many resources as possible. Using the resources they’ve gathered, players can craft three items to receive a reward. 

A Minecraft Movie Meal gives customers a special chance to unlock character skins by scanning the collectible card that comes with their purchase, available for use in their Minecraft gaming account. In select markets, A Minecraft Movie Meal also comes with a collectible gift box containing blockified toy versions of McDonald’s most iconic characters like Grimace and the Hamburglar. 

In select markets, tms sourced exclusive merchandise like tees, hoodies, tote bags, and socks that were available for McDonald’s loyalty members and seeded to influencers in the gaming community. Crew uniforms also got the special treatment, with exclusive crew shirts being used in certain countries. 

Learn about other campaigns tms has supported for McDonald’s, including the recent “Want Prize with That?” program in Canada. 

McDonald’s Surprize Fries returned to Australia and New Zealand with more surprises than ever before from March 5 to April 1. The ever-popular activation is enabled through the transformational technology of iWin, the proprietary game engine tms designed and manage.  

The famous peel returns from last year with each order of fries, only this time the promotion features an improved one in three chances for customers to win free food, exclusive merchandise, gift cards from their favorite brands, and cash prizes. To play, customers simply remove the peel from their fries to reveal an instant prize or a code that can be scanned in the McDonald’s app for gamified reveals, resulting in a reward or an entry to a weekly prize sweepstakes.  

This time, players in Australia get a doubly exciting, gamified experience each week during the month-long promotion, as McDonald’s will unveil a new Surprize Prize, featuring exciting “money can’t buy” experiences to delight customers and celebrate unsung hero of every McDonald’s meal – the fries.   

The new experience is delivered seamlessly using tms’ iWin proprietary game engine technology, which delivers secure and scalable engaging customer experiences.  

“We’re constantly seeking new and innovative ways to surprise and delight our customers through our promotions. This year, our digital experience takes it to the next level, offering something fresh and exciting for McDonald’s fans,” said Stuart Nyman, Digital Client Engagement Lead at tms. 

Other partner agencies including Akcelo, which created the front-end digital experience in the app; DDB handling creative communications; and Creata delievered the prize pool and ticket printing. Digitas is the CRM agency in Australia, while Track manages CRM for New Zealand, and Mango is the PR agency. OMD handles media planning and buying.   

Discover the success of last year’s Surprize Fries promotion, enabled by tms. 

McDonald’s has joined forces with British rap legend Stormzy in a new campaign inviting fans to “Order like Stormzy.” The signature meal is available for a limited time, launching on February 12 exclusively in the UK and ROI. To make the campaign come to life, tms led on the promotion, digital experience, and prize pool. 

The collaboration spotlights the artist’s go-to McDonald’s meal: 9 McNuggets, Fries, Sprite, an Oreo McFlurry, and BBQ sauce. 

tms sourced exclusive merchandise including branded pin badges in collaboration with Linney, adding an extra element of surprise and delight for customers. As part of the digital experience, we developed two interactive microsites – one for customers entering the Prize Draw and another for those redeeming merch through Merch on Tiers using MyMcDonald’s Rewards – each providing a unique way for customers to engage and unlock tiered merchandise. 

To celebrate, Stormzy’s local Croydon McDonald’s has been temporarily renamed ‘Big Mike’s,’ and fans there can grab The Stormzy Meal 48 hours early. The promotion also includes social-first activations and a ‘Meet and Greet’ with Stormzy himself. 

The campaign was a cross-agency collaboration: Leo Burnett led creative, and social, Red Consultancy managed all talent, PR, event, and influencer, and OMD UK managed all media buying and planning. Linney supported all POP communications and TMW was responsible for CRM.   

Learn more about Stormzy’s signature meal on Famous Campaigns.